[va-richmond-general] More bad news for birds worldwide?

From: "IE Ries" <featherchaser@xxxxxxxxxx>

To: "RAS" <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 12:29:37 -0400

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050801/hl_nm/russia_birdflu_dc
Russia bird flu could spread to EU - vet official
By Aleksandras Budrys 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A strain of bird flu dangerous to humans could spread to
parts of the
European Union from Siberia, a senior Russian veterinary official warned on
Monday.
Chances were "very high" the strain found in the Novosibirsk region could
spread to other parts of Siberia, the official from the Russian Veterinary and
Phytosanitary Inspection Service told Reuters.
"There is also a possibility that bird flu could spread to the European Union
as (infected) wild birds from China may have been in contact in Russia with
birds that will fly on to the Netherlands, France and elsewhere," the official
said.
"North America is not safe either, as some birds from Russia fly there, too,"
said the official who did not wish to be named.
The official said it had been confirmed on Friday that birds in the
Novosibirsk region were infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is
dangerous to humans, and not with H5N2, as had previously been believed.
Bird flu is split in strains such as H5 and H7, which in turn have nine
different subtypes. H5N1 subtype is highly pathogenic and can be passed from
birds to humans, although there have been no known cases of human to human
transmission.
More than 50 people have died in Asia from H5N1 since late 2003, raising
fears it could mutate and form the basis of a global epidemic.
Later, the Agriculture Ministry said bird flu had also been found in poultry
in a farm in another region, Altai, between Novosibirsk and Kazakhstan.
"A quarantine has been imposed in all the affected locations, and necessary
measures are being taken to isolate the pockets of infection," the statement
said.
It said that heads of regional veterinary services have been instructed to
organize measures to prevent the spreading of the disease.
Veterinary officials were examining samples taken on farms in other Siberian
regions where migrating wild birds from China may have landed.
The official said neighboring Kazakhstan, where deaths of poultry and wild
birds in the northern Pavlodar region have been registered last month, may also
have a bird flu strain similar to Russia's.
"We have been in contact with the Kazakhs. The probability that they have the
same type of virus is very high, as some birds fly to Russia from China through
Kazakhstan. But it will take some time to have it confirmed," the official said.
A spokesman for the Russian emergencies ministry said on Monday that so far
no cases of humans being infected with bird flu had been registered.
He said over 2,000 birds died of the virus in 18 villages in Novosibirsk
region. Experts were also checking cases of deaths of poultry and wild birds in
the neighboring regions of Omsk and Altai.
(Additional reporting by Tatyana Mosolova in Moscow and Raushan Nurshayeva in
Astana)